---
title: SB 412. Education; accumulated sick leave days teachers and other school personnel may take each school year for personal or professional reasons; increase
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/sb412
cite_as: SB 412, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb412
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb412.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb412/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/72289
date: 2026-01-29
status: introduced
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md
previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb411.md
next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb413.md
index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md
omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 199
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb412.md?full=1
bill_number: SB 412
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: Senate
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2026-01-16
last_action: Senate Read Second Time
sponsors:
- Billy Hickman
- Chuck Payne
- Sonya Halpern
- RaShaun Kemp
- Shawn Still
- Ed Harbison
- Bo Hatchett
- Timothy Bearden
- Clint Dixon
- Greg Dolezal
- Ed Setzler
- Donzella James
- Elena Parent
- Freddie Sims
- Larry Walker
- Jason Anavitarte
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB412/2025
upstream_id: 2085234
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- teacher sick leave
- school personnel benefits
- education law
- personal leave policy
---
# SB 412. Education; accumulated sick leave days teachers and other school personnel may take each school year for personal or professional reasons; increase
## Text
Senate Bill 412
By: Senators Hickman of the 4th, Payne of the 54th, Halpern of the 39th, Kemp of the 38th,
Still of the 48th and others
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Part 4 of Article 17 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia
Annotated, relating to sick, personal, and maternity leave for teachers and other school
personnel, so as to increase from three to five the number of accumulated sick leave days
teachers and other school personnel may take each school year for personal or professional
reasons; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Part 4 of Article 17 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated,
relating to sick, personal, and maternity leave for teachers and other school personnel, is
amended by revising Code Section 20-2-851, relating to use of accumulated sick leave for
personal or professional reasons, as follows:
"20-2-851.
During any school year, personnel may utilize up to a maximum of three five days of any
accumulated sick leave for the purpose of absenting themselves from their duties for
personal or professional reasons if prior approval of their absence is given by the local
school superintendent or his or her authorized representative; provided, however, that the
absence is not in conflict with a local board of education policy concerning school days on
which the presence of the personnel requesting absence is essential for effective school
operation. No grant of approval for an absence permitted under this Code section shall be
conditioned upon disclosure of the specific purpose for which such absence is sought, nor
shall any such grant of approval be withheld or denied because of the failure or refusal of
personnel to disclose the specific purpose for which such an absence is sought; provided,
however, that personnel may be requested to state whether the absence is sought under the
category of 'personal' or 'professional' absence."
SECTION 2.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.
## Summaries written by Georgia Commons
The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary.
A Georgia Senate bill would let teachers and other school personnel use up to five accumulated sick leave days per year for personal or professional reasons, up from three.
### Plain-language summary
Under current Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 20-2-851), teachers and other school personnel can use up to three days of their accumulated sick leave each school year for personal or professional reasons, as long as the local school superintendent or a designated representative approves the absence in advance.
This bill would raise that cap from three days to five days per school year. The approval process stays the same: the absence still cannot conflict with a local school board policy about days when the employee's presence is essential, and school officials still cannot require employees to disclose the specific reason for the absence, though employees can be asked to say whether it falls under the 'personal' or 'professional' category. The bill also updates the law's wording to say 'his or her' instead of just 'his.' It repeals any conflicting laws and does not specify a separate effective date beyond standard enactment.
### What it does
- Raises the number of accumulated sick leave days that teachers and school personnel may use for personal or professional reasons each school year from three to five.
- Keeps the existing requirement that the local school superintendent or an authorized representative approve the absence in advance.
- Preserves the rule barring absences on days a local school board policy deems essential for the employee's presence.
- Retains the protection that employees cannot be forced to disclose the specific reason for the absence, though they may be asked to categorize it as 'personal' or 'professional.'
### Who it affects
Public school teachers and other school personnel across Georgia who use accumulated sick leave for personal or professional absences, along with local school superintendents and local boards of education, who oversee approval of these absences.
### Why it matters
Teachers and school staff would get two more days each year of flexible, unspecified sick leave for personal matters, while still needing prior approval and still being barred from taking the days when local policy says their presence is essential.
### Key provisions
- Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 20-2-851 to change the maximum number of personal or professional sick leave days from three to five per school year.
- Section 1 keeps the requirement that absences get prior approval from the local school superintendent or an authorized representative.
- Section 1 keeps the rule that approval cannot be conditioned on disclosing the specific reason for the absence, though staff may be asked whether it is 'personal' or 'professional.'
- Section 2 repeals any laws that conflict with the bill.
## Status
- Status: Introduced (2026-01-16)
- Last action: Senate Read Second Time (2026-01-29)
- Sponsors: Billy Hickman, Chuck Payne, Sonya Halpern, RaShaun Kemp, Shawn Still, Ed Harbison, Bo Hatchett, Timothy Bearden, Clint Dixon, Greg Dolezal, Ed Setzler, Donzella James, Elena Parent, Freddie Sims, Larry Walker, Jason Anavitarte
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/72289
> The history, votes, and amendments (199 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb412.md?full=1